A system for tracking a following vehicle by a leading vehicle. In one example, the system includes a user interface, a camera, an output device, and an electronic controller. The electronic controller is configured to receive, via the user interface, an indication of the following vehicle and recognize the following vehicle. The electronic controller tracks the following vehicle using a video feed from the camera and determines whether the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle. The electronic controller also generates a driver notification when the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle and outputs, via the output device, the driver notification.
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1. A system for tracking a following vehicle from a leading vehicle, the system comprising:
a leading vehicle, the leading vehicle including;
a user interface;
a camera that generates a video feed;
an output device; and
an electronic controller configured to
receive the video feed from the camera and display the video feed within the user interface;
receive, via the user interface, an indication of the following vehicle to track when a user selects the following vehicle from a group of vehicles within the video feed from the camera;
recognize the following vehicle using the video feed;
track the following vehicle using the video feed;
determine, using the video feed, whether the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle;
generate a driver notification when the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle; and
output, via the output device, the driver notification.
7. A method of tracking a following vehicle from a leading vehicle, the method comprising:
generating, via a camera, a video feed;
receiving, at an electronic controller, the video feed from the camera;
displaying, via the electronic controller, the video feed within a user interface;
receiving, via the user interface, an indication of the following vehicle to track when a user selects the following vehicle from a group of vehicles within the video feed from a camera included in a leading vehicle;
recognizing, via the electronic controller included in the leading vehicle, the following vehicle using the video feed;
tracking the following vehicle, via the electronic controller, using the video feed;
determining, with the electronic controller, whether the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle using the video feed; and
generating, with the electronic controller, a driver notification when the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle,
outputting, via an output device, the driver notification.
2. The system as claimed to
3. The system as claimed to
the following vehicle is a predetermined distance behind the leading vehicle,
the following vehicle is not detected by the camera for a predetermined time interval,
the following vehicle deviates a predetermined lateral distance from the leading vehicle, or
a combination of the foregoing.
4. The system as claimed to
5. The system as claimed to
6. The system as claimed to
8. The method as claimed to
9. The method as claimed to
the following vehicle is a predetermined distance behind the leading vehicle,
the following vehicle is not detected by the camera for a predetermined time interval,
the following vehicle deviates a predetermined lateral distance from the leading vehicle, or
a combination of the foregoing.
10. The method as claimed to
11. The method as claimed to
12. The method as claimed to
13. The method as claimed to
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Embodiments relate to a leading vehicle tracking a following vehicle.
Sometimes two or more vehicles will travel together, as a caravan, from the same starting location to the same destination. When multiple vehicles travel together one vehicle is often designated as the lead vehicle. The other vehicles in the caravan or group agree to follow the lead vehicle in a single file line. Every driver of a vehicle in the caravan (excluding the driver of the last vehicle) must pay attention to the vehicle following them so that the vehicles in the group do not become separated. If the driver forgets to check on the vehicle following the leading vehicle for a few minutes, the leading vehicle may lose the vehicle that is following.
One embodiment provides a system for tracking a following vehicle from a leading vehicle. The system includes a user interface, a camera, an output device, and an electronic controller. The electronic controller is configured to receive, via the user interface, an indication of the following vehicle and to recognize the following vehicle. The electronic controller tracks the following vehicle using a video feed from the camera and determines whether the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle. The electronic controller also generates a driver notification when the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle and outputs, via the output device, the driver notification.
Another embodiment provides a method of tracking a following vehicle from a leading vehicle. The method includes receiving, from a user interface, an indication of the following vehicle and recognizing the following vehicle with an electronic controller. The method also includes tracking the following vehicle using video feed from a camera and using the electronic controller to determine whether the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle. The method further comprises generating, with the electronic controller, a driver notification when the following vehicle is struggling to follow the leading vehicle and outputting the driver notification via an output device.
Other aspects will become apparent by consideration of the detailed description and accompanying drawings.
Before any embodiments are explained in detail, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not intended to be limited in its application to the details of construction and the arrangement of components set forth in the following description or illustrated in the following drawings. Embodiments are capable of other configurations and of being practiced or of being carried out in various ways.
A plurality of hardware and software based devices, as well as a plurality of different structural components may be used to implement various embodiments. In addition, embodiments may include hardware, software, and electronic components or modules that, for purposes of discussion, may be illustrated and described as if the majority of the components were implemented solely in hardware. However, one of ordinary skill in the art, and based on a reading of this detailed description, would recognize that, in at least one embodiment, the electronic based aspects of the invention may be implemented in software (for example, stored on non-transitory computer-readable medium) executable by one or more processors. For example, “control units” and “controllers” described in the specification can include one or more electronic processors, one or more memory modules including non-transitory computer-readable medium, one or more input/output interfaces, one or more application specific integrated circuits (ASICs), and various connections (for example, a system bus) connecting the various components.
The electronic controller 205 may be communicatively connected to the user interface 210, the output device 215, lidar sensor 216, radar sensor 217, ultrasonic sensor 218, and the camera 220 via various wired or wireless connections. For example, in some embodiments, the electronic controller 205 is directly coupled via a dedicated wire to each of the above-listed components of the system 200 for tracking a following vehicle from a leading vehicle. In other embodiments, the electronic controller 205 is communicatively coupled to one or more of the components via a shared communication link such as a vehicle communication bus (for example, a controller area network (CAN) bus) or a wireless vehicle network.
Each of the components of the system 200 for tracking a following vehicle from a leading vehicle may communicate with the electronic controller 205 using various communication protocols. The embodiment illustrated in
The electronic controller 205 may be implemented in several independent controllers (for example, programmable electronic control units) each configured to perform specific functions or sub-functions. Additionally, the electronic controller 205 may contain sub-modules that include additional electronic processors, memory, or application specific integrated circuits (ASICs) for handling input/output functions, processing of signals, and application of the methods listed below. In other embodiments, the electronic controller 205 includes additional, fewer, or different components.
In one embodiment, the electronic controller 205 tracks the position of the following vehicle 105 using the lidar sensor 216, radar sensor 217, ultrasonic sensor 218, camera 220, or a combination of the foregoing (block 515). The electronic controller 205 determines if the following vehicle 105 is struggling to follow based on one or more conditions or a combination of these conditions. For example, the electronic controller determines that the following vehicle 105 is struggling to follow the leading vehicle 100 by comparing the position of the following vehicle 105 to several predetermined thresholds (block 520). For example, the electronic controller 205 detects a lateral distance that the following vehicle 105 has deviated from the leading vehicle 100 and compares the detected lateral distance to a predetermined lateral distance. If the detected lateral distance is above the predetermined lateral distance, the electronic controller 205 determines that the following vehicle 105 is struggling to follow the leading vehicle 100. The electronic controller 205 may also compare a distance between the leading vehicle 100 and the following vehicle 105 to a predetermined distance. If the following vehicle 105 is further behind the leading vehicle 100 than the predetermined distance, the electronic controller 205 determines that the following vehicle 105 is struggling to follow the leading vehicle 100. In another example, the electronic controller 205 compares a time interval that the following vehicle 105 has not been detected by the lidar sensor 216, radar sensor 217, ultrasonic sensor 218, or camera 220 to a predetermined time interval. If the following vehicle 105 has not been detected by the lidar sensor 216, radar sensor 217, ultrasonic sensor 218, or camera 220 for the predetermined time interval or longer the electronic controller 205 determines that the following vehicle 105 is struggling to follow the leading vehicle 100.
If the electronic controller 205 detects that the following vehicle 105 is struggling to follow the leading vehicle 100, the electronic controller 205 sends a signal to the output device 215 to generate a driver notification (block 525). The driver notification output by the output device 215 (block 530) may be an audio notification, such as a beep or a prerecorded message, and/or a visual notification, such as a dash board light. If the electronic controller 205 knows a speed of the following vehicle 105 and the distance between the following vehicle 105 and the leading vehicle 100 the output device 215 outputs, as part of the driver notification, the speed of the following vehicle 105, the distance between the following vehicle 105 and the leading vehicle 100, a suggested action to improve following of the leading vehicle 100 by the following vehicle 105, or a combination of the foregoing. For example, the suggested action may be slowing the leading vehicle 100 to a speed which reduces the distance between the leading vehicle and the following vehicle 105.
Various features and advantages are set forth in the following claims.
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